Billiard cue stroke guiding stem



March 12, 1968 J. MOLIS BILLIARD CUE STROKE GUIDING STEM Filed Sept. 15,1965 INVENTOR.

47'7'0e/v5y5 United States Patent Ofiice 3,372,929 BILLIARD CUE STROKEGUIDING STEM John Molis, Box 3915, Baytown, Tex. 77520 Filed Sept. 13,1965, Ser. No. 486,933 6 Claims. (Cl. 273-23) This invention relates tobilliard cues, and more particularly to an improved billiard cue stemconstruction including means for supporting and guiding the associatedbilliard cue.

A main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedbilliard cue stem construction which includes means for supporting andguiding the associated billiard cue when executing a thrust with thecue, the guiding means involving relatively simple parts, being readilyavailable for use, as required, and being toldable to a substantiallynon-interfering position when not in use so that it does not, in anyway, interfere with the use of the associated billiard cue.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved guidingmeans for a billiard cue which is relatively compact in size, which isinexpensive to fabricate, which provides steady and comfortable supportfor a billiard cue, and which does not in any way, obstruct the viewfrom the top of its associated cue stem in the line of direction to thebilliard ball toward which the billiard cue is directed, the improvedconstruction eliminating the necessity for the player to loop his fingeraround the cue stem.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved stroke-guidemeans for a billiard cue, the guide means being very easy to install,being normally retracted to a non-interfering, non-operating position,and being easily extended for use, the support means providing a steadyand reliable support for the associated billiard cue, providing meansfor securely and comfortably holding same, and also providing means foraccurately pivoting and aiming the associated billiard cue without thenecessity of the player looping his finger around the cue stem, as hasbeen heretofore required for accuracy in guiding a conventional billiardcue.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentfrom the following description and claims, and from the accompanyingdrawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a billard cue provided withimproved guiding and support means according to the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a bottom plan view of the billiard cue of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view takensubstantially on the line 33 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is an end elevational view of the billiard cue, takensubstantially on the line 44 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical crosssectional view,generally similar to FIGURE 3, but showing the support and guiding meansof the billiard cue in operative position and illustrating the manner inwhich the users hand is engaged with the lower portion of the supportingand guiding means.

FIGURE 6 is a transverse vertical cross-sectional view takensubstantially on the line 6-6 of FIGURE 5.

Referring to the drawing, 11 generally designates a billiard cueprovided with the improved supporting and guiding means of the presentinvention. The billiard cue 11 comprises an elongated tubular stemmember 12 of suitable tempered alloy, such as tempered steel, having ahigh degree of rigidity. The cue 11 is provided with an enlarged handleportion 13 and with the intermediate tapered mid-section 14, the handleportion 13 being provided with the rubber butt member 15 and the stemportion being provided with a cue tip 23 of suitable relatively softyieldable material, such as leather, or the like.

3,372,929 Patented Mar. 12, 1968 As shown in FIGURE 3, the mid-section14 has molded therein an axially-extending metal core 31 which isthreadedly-engaged in the end of the tubular stem member 12, themid-section 14 being suitably recessed at 32 to receive the end of thestem member 12, the recess 32 being of substantial length so that asubstantial portion of the stem member 12 is housed in the reduced endportion of the tapered mid-section 14, as shown in FIGURE 3.

The stem member 12 is formed with a longitudinal slot 34 which extendsfor the major portion of the length of the stem member, andslidably-positioned inside the stem member is an elongated shuttle orplunger member 35 of plastic material, or the like, to which ispivotally-connected at 36 an outwardly-extending support leg 37 whichpasses through the slot 34, as is clearly shown in FIGURES 3 and 5.

The support leg 37 comprises a straight bar-like inner portion 3 8 andan annularly-concaved post element 39 which is integral with thebar-like inner portion 38 and which is angled relative to said bar-liikeinner portion, as is clearly shown in FIGURES 3 and 5, the axis of thepost element 39 extending at an angle of approximately to the axis ofthe bar-like inner portion 38. Formed integrally with and extendingperpendicular to the outer end of the post element 39 is a generallyU-shaped, relatively fiat base member 40, the base member beingconnected to the post element 39* substantially at the center of thebight portion of said base member with the legs of the base member beingspaced apart sufficiently to, at

times, receive the stem member 12 clampingly therebetween, for example,as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, whereby the support leg 37 may bereleasably-held in a retracted, inoperative position closely adjacent tothe stem member 12. The side arms of the base 40 are sufficientlyresilient to allow the base member 40 to be readily disengaged from thestem member when it is desired to place the support leg 37 in itsoperating position.

As is clearly shown in FIGURES 3 and 5, the plunger member 35 is formedwith an outwardly-flaring slot 42, with the transverse pivot pin 36substantially centered in the slot, whereby to allow a wide range ofangular move ment of the bar-like portion 38, for example, from theinoperative position of FIGURE 3 to the operating position of FIGURE 5.

As shown in FIGURES 3, 5 and 6, the support leg 37 may beintegrally-molded from plastic material, or the like, and is providedwith an integral, relatively wide flange portion 44 which projectslaterally from opposite sides of the joint between the top end of thepost element 39 and the lower end of the bar-like portion 38. Thisfacilitates holding the support leg when the leg is in use, asillustrated in FIGURE 5. Thus, with the support leg 37 in operatingposition, as illustrated, the base 40 is supported on the billiard tableand the users hand is engaged with the support leg with the post element39 received between the thumb and forefinger of the hand so that thesupport leg may be easily held in a stationary position on the billiardtable while the billiard cue is manipulated. The billiard cue may bereadily rotated around the axis defined by the pivot pin 36, and mayalso be moved longitudinally along its own axis, because of the slidingconnection provided by the plunger 35 with the tubular stern member 12.It will be further apparent that the users hand in no way engages aroundthe stem portion 12 of the billiard cue so that there is no interferencewith visibility along the line of direction of movement of the billiardcue, as viewed from above by the player.

The cue may also be supported entirely by merely holding the postelement 39 in the users hand, for example, between the thumb and theforefinger, without resting on the table. When the cue is thusmanually-supported, the

post element 3? serves as a pivot shaft allowing rotation of the cuearound the axis of the post element since the post element readily turnsin the users hand as the user changes the direction of the cue. Thisprovides extra flexibility in the use of the cue.

Since the slot 34 is of a length which extends for the major portion ofthe stem member 12, the plunger 35 is movable through the major portionof the interior of the stem member, allowing a wide range oflongitudinal movement of the billiard cue while it is being supported onthe leg 37 in the manner above-described.

The rod-like plunger member 35 is of substantial length so that itprovides an accurate guiding action, with pivot ing of the billiard cuerelative to the leg 37 limited substantially to rotation around the axisof the pivot pin 36.

The tubular stern member 12 is provided at the end portion thereof whichis received in the recess 32 with diametrically-opposed assembly holes46 through which the pivot pin 36 is inserted during the assembly of thebilliard cue, the apertured inner end of the bar-like element 38 beingheld between the apertures 46 while the pin 36 is inserted, whereby topivotally-connect leg 37 to the plunger member 35. After final assembly,the holes 46 are, of course, covered by the reduced end portion ofmid-section 14 of the billiard cue.

While a specific embodiment of an improved support and guiding means fora billiard cue has been disclosed in the foregoing description, it willbe understood that various modifications within the spirit of theinvention may occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it isintended that no limitations be placed on the invention except asdefined by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a billiard cue, an elongated tubular stem member provided at oneend with an enlarged handle portion and at its other end with arelatively soft deformable cue tip,

4- said stem member being formed with a longitudinal slot, a slideelement mounted in said stem member, and a support legpivotally-connected to said slide element and extending through saidslot.

2. The billiard one of claim 1, wherein said slide element comprises anelongated rod-like plunger slidablyfitting inside the stem member, saidsupport leg being pivotally-connected to the intermediate portion ofsaid plunger member.

3. The billiard cue of claim 2, wherein said support leg comprises astraight bar-like inner portion and an annularly-concave post elementrigid with and angled relative to said bar-like inner portion.

4. The billiard one of claim 3, and a relatively flat baserigidly-connected to and extending substantially perpendicular to saidpost element.

5. The billiard cue of claim 4, and wherein said base i; generallyU-shaped and is connected to said post element substantially at thecenter of its bight portion, the legs of the base being spaced apartsufilciently to at times receive the stern member therebetween.

6. The billiard cue of claim 5, and wherein said plunger member is ofplastic material and is provided with a recess receiving the end of thebar-like inner portion of the support leg.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,092,189 4/1914 Varian 273-231,368,875 2/1921 Adams 273-69 FOREIGN PATENTS 528,583 8/1921 France.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

T. ZACK, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN A BILLIARD CUE, AN ELONGATED TUBULAR STEM MEMBER PROVIDED AT ONEEND WITH AN ENLARGED HANDLE PORTION AND AT ITS OTHER END WITH ARELATIVELY SOFT DEFORMABLE CUE TIP, SAID STEM MEMBER BEING FORMED WITH ALONGITUDINAL SLOT, A SLIDE ELEMENT MOUNTED IN SAID STEM MEMBER, AND ASUPPORT LEG PIVOTALLY-CONNECTED TO SAID SLIDE ELEMENT AND EXTENDINGTHROUGH SAID SLOT.